This is the seventh issue of Microscopy Today in its new format. The re-styled magazine has received favorable comments from both readers and advertisers. Article submission has increased, and many authors have used Microscopy Today to highlight and summarize their work published in other venues. In this issue we begin two new occasional departments. One is called “Microscopy Protocols.” I invite readers to contribute protocols and procedures useful for microscopists and microanalysts. The other new department is called “Your Point of View” where we will publish the results of periodic surveys concerning the microscopy and microanalysis communities.

In addition to publishing the magazine, Microscopy Today editors have been busy with two initiatives that have elicited considerable interest, the new Microscopy Today Innovation Awards and the Microscopy Today Buyers' Guide. Ten winners of the Innovation Award, representing all aspects of microscopy and microanalysis, will be honored during the Wednesday poster session of the Microscopy & Microanalysis meeting in Portland, Oregon, August 4, 2010. The new Buyers' Guide will be distributed at the M&M meeting. While the Buyers' Guide you'll see there is a print version, you should know that the Guide is really a digital database (go to www.microscopy-today.com) for locating products related to all types of microscopy and microanalysis. The goal is to make this document so inclusive that all manufacturers and distributors of microscopes, specimen preparation equipment, and supplies will be represented.

We want every microscopist to have their own copy of Microscopy Today. To promote this, we are having a subscription campaign: we are encouraging new subscribers and returning subscribers to register for their free subscription online at www.microscopy-today.com. Even though there is an option for receiving just the digital edition, we will continue to mail print copies to individuals in microscopy labs and homes throughout North America. During the subscription process, we encourage you to tell us about the equipment you use. This will allow us to provide articles useful for the types of microscopy you actually do.

Please consider attending Microscopy & Microanalysis 2010 in Portland. There you will find first-class symposia on all aspects of microscopy and the largest annual exhibition of microscopy instrumentation in the world. I appreciate your support for Microscopy Today.